Breathing for a racing mind: 10 minutes, on the train

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 10 minutes of breathing for a racing mind, on the train. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: a racing mind

A racing mind is not a thinking problem, it is an arousal problem. When the body is revved up, the brain produces thoughts at the same speed, and each one feels urgent.

It tends to show up as:

• Thoughts arriving faster than you can finish them
• Lying awake running through the day
• Losing your place mid-sentence

Trying to stop the thoughts adds fuel. Narrowing attention to one physical sensation gives the mind a slower thing to hold.

Doing this on your commute

• Headphones on, eyes open or closed depending on your comfort
• Keep one part of your attention on your stop
• Do it standing if sitting is not possible — nobody is watching

Commuting time is already dead time. Nothing is being given up.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your next exhale be a sigh, if a sigh is what's waiting there.
2. 0:14Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
3. 0:30Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
4. 0:48Let the breath get a little quieter, as if you were trying not to wake someone sleeping nearby.
5. 1:04Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
6. 1:17Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
7. 1:30Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
8. 1:42Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
9. 1:52Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
10. 2:03Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
11. 2:15If you catch yourself fighting thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
12. 2:34Let the exhale carry a little of the mind running ahead of you with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
13. 2:54If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
14. 3:06Let the counting do the work. When you lose the count, start again from one — no penalty.
15. 3:22I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
16. 3:34Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
17. 3:47There is no target number here. Only the next breath, and then the one after it.
18. 4:02I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
19. 4:14If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
20. 4:28Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
21. 4:42Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
22. 4:53Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
23. 5:06Take the next breath slowly.
24. 5:15Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
25. 5:28Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
26. 5:39Just the breath, still.
27. 5:48Feel your forearms, from the elbow down to the wrist.
28. 6:00Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
29. 6:11Let it be this simple.
30. 6:20Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
31. 6:34Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
32. 6:47Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
33. 6:58Picture one thought chasing the next as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
34. 7:17Remind yourself, slowly: I am safe in this moment, even while thoughts arriving faster than you can answer them is here. Safety and difficulty can share a room.
35. 7:37If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
36. 7:51You have been carrying the mind running ahead of you for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
37. 8:12Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
38. 8:24Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
39. 8:36Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
40. 8:48Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
41. 9:02Let the pause stretch out.
42. 9:11Let the next breath be the start of the rest of the day.
43. 9:24Give your hands a stretch before you go back to using them.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.